jokercykoe Posted October 20, 2008 Share Posted October 20, 2008 Hows it going all? My names Peter, 22/M/OC,CA , Nursing student (which takes up most of my time, so I need this to be as low maintenance as possible). Hobbies include: Aquariums, Photography, Fixed Gear/Track bikes, Cars, Gaming on Xbox Live. A little about me (relevant to aquariums)...I've kept aquariums for as long as I can remember. Like most others, I started out with freshwater, moving on to freshwater planted, then reverted back to fish only freshwater(aggressive fish). A while back, (around May 2006), I ended up getting a job at the LFS. (Coral & Fish Center, near South Coast Plaza Mall here in O.C.), and got exposed to saltwater reef tanks. I learned a lot from Frank and Lieu, and a good % of my paychecks went back into the store lol. I kept small tanks (a 10g, with 96w PC, stocked with softies & a 20H also softies), but ended up having to tear them down a while back to focus more on school. Well like most others, I got bit by the reef bug again . Last christmas, a friend of mine gave me a Nanocube 12 DX, stand, and koralia nano (as a secret santa gift). It ended up sitting in storage until about a week ago, when I decided to set up a tank again. I ended up setting it up with rock from an existing reef tank. Day 1 Stand/Tank set up Gutted the back compartments Sand storm! Everything starting to settle down. The sand ended up getting all over my rock so I had to blow that off. Ran everything, let the water circulate, and ended up getting a mini cycle. Tested my water again today (5th day), the Ammonia is down to 0, Nitrite down to 0, but Nitrates are at ~ 15. Still waiting on the dreaded Diatom bloom before I pick up CUC or even think about stocking. (I learned a long time ago, patience is key in this game. It's tough though, so I tend to stay out of LFS during this phase to avoid those impulsive buys). So today, I decided why not do the refugium mod that most people do to their cubes. I took a razor to the back and this is what I got: Started out with stock back After 10 minutes or so of scraping. Temporary Refugium lighting, until I think of something better... Top Down shot of the lighting Sponges in first chamber will be taken out soon. They're just there to catch the swirling sand particles. FTS as it sits today 10/19/08 Notice the big aptasia right in front , There's about 5 more scattered throughout the tank. Kinda sucks because I can't reach half of them. P.S. Yes I know about the heater, I'll pick up a shorter one to throw in the back compartments sometime in the near future. Link to comment
got2envy Posted October 20, 2008 Share Posted October 20, 2008 Looks really good! I had the same tank set up for a little while and with the stock lites I got some great growth on stuff..sold it for $100 lol Link to comment
Lalani Posted October 20, 2008 Share Posted October 20, 2008 Heh, welcome back to the addiction! Tank looks great, as well as your photography. Link to comment
jokercykoe Posted October 20, 2008 Author Share Posted October 20, 2008 Looks really good! I had the same tank set up for a little while and with the stock lites I got some great growth on stuff..sold it for $100 lol Yeah, I'm hoping the stock lights will do. I have a 150w JBJ Viper K2 sitting around with about a month of use on it before I put it back in storage last year. Worst comes to worst I'll pull it back out. Heh, welcome back to the addiction! Tank looks great, as well as your photography. Thanks, just had a chance to visit your site. Good stuff in there I like the B&Ws. I need to get out and shoot more, lately it seems like I'm just taking snapshots at parties/trips. Link to comment
jokercykoe Posted October 20, 2008 Author Share Posted October 20, 2008 Anybody know if its a bad idea to stock Chaeto this early in the game? Link to comment
Lalani Posted October 20, 2008 Share Posted October 20, 2008 Thanks, just had a chance to visit your site. Good stuff in there I like the B&Ws. I need to get out and shoot more, lately it seems like I'm just taking snapshots at parties/trips. Thanks Anybody know if its a bad idea to stock Chaeto this early in the game? I put chaeto in before the cycle was finished and it did fine, don't see any problem with putting it in so early. Link to comment
j'field Posted October 20, 2008 Share Posted October 20, 2008 Hi jokercykoe, your tank is looking good! Imo, think is better/easier for you to get rid of the aiptasia before putting any livestocks. Maybe you can use Joe's Juice? Link to comment
jokercykoe Posted October 21, 2008 Author Share Posted October 21, 2008 I can probably use Joes Juice on a few of them, but I know for sure I won't be able to get them all. Tests today showed: ammonia - 0 nitrite - 0 nitrate 5 or 10, hard to tell with the API master test kit. I THINK I can see a light dusting of diatoms on the sand. Other than that, no real signs of cycling. The diatoms might be my eyes playing a trick on me though. Edit: Yup Diatoms are indeed here. Not much, just a light sprinkle over the sand/rocks. Looks like I will be doing a water change this week, and possibly adding a small cuc. Link to comment
jokercykoe Posted October 22, 2008 Author Share Posted October 22, 2008 Nitrate is at 5-10. Can't seem to get rid of it, but its definitely not a problem at this level. Removed sponges in the back today, causing a dust storm again. (bad idea setting it up with them). Also got a bag of chaeto which I put in the back refugium, running a reverse lighting schedule. Also added 2 hermits and 2 astraea snails. How are people with NC12 DX's keeping strands of broken chaeto from getting into the pump compartment? Would love to see pictures of what you guys have rigged up. I've read through both stoney's and steelhealr's threads. Link to comment
jokercykoe Posted October 24, 2008 Author Share Posted October 24, 2008 Added some frags, some from friends, some from stores. HHRC's? Organisms? Single Polyp of Nuclear Greens Joker Palys (2 Polyps) Never been good at this name stuff. Link to comment
jokercykoe Posted October 31, 2008 Author Share Posted October 31, 2008 Bajillion copepods, amphipods, asterina, tiny feather dusters, and tiny brittle stars in the rocks. Its fun watching the lights come on and all the pods scurrying away. Link to comment
Khayman Posted October 31, 2008 Share Posted October 31, 2008 Nice looking tank thus far Link to comment
jokercykoe Posted October 31, 2008 Author Share Posted October 31, 2008 Nice looking tank thus far Thanks. For those with NC's with the refugium mod in the back, how do you keep the small broken pieces of chaeto from getting into the 3rd chamber and shooting back into your tank? Link to comment
jokercykoe Posted November 1, 2008 Author Share Posted November 1, 2008 So I took a look in the tank this morning to find this guy on the glass! O_O crap is it what I think it is? Pest nudibranch? I siphoned it out. If anyone can ID it let me know... thanks... Crap... Link to comment
dtfleming Posted November 1, 2008 Share Posted November 1, 2008 Bajillion copepods, amphipods, asterina, tiny feather dusters, and tiny brittle stars in the rocks. Its fun watching the lights come on and all the pods scurrying away. Looking good, but i would get that fireworm outta there Link to comment
jokercykoe Posted November 1, 2008 Author Share Posted November 1, 2008 Damn I thought it was just your typical bristleworm... Link to comment
j'field Posted November 2, 2008 Share Posted November 2, 2008 Yah, those are under the Aeolid nudi family. All uder these familes are coral predators. Link to comment
Lalani Posted November 2, 2008 Share Posted November 2, 2008 Damn I thought it was just your typical bristleworm... Looks like a normal bristleworm to me, mine look just like that. Anyways, tank looks great, can't wait to see it all grown in. Link to comment
Needreefunds Posted November 2, 2008 Share Posted November 2, 2008 Thanks. For those with NC's with the refugium mod in the back, how do you keep the small broken pieces of chaeto from getting into the 3rd chamber and shooting back into your tank? I took one of the stock sponges and cut a slice of it to fit in the right side wall. I have been running this way for more than a year. I rinse the sponge during water changes and whenever I clean the fuge section. I also change the sponge every so often. HTH Tank looks good so far, Sorry bout the nudis.... Link to comment
jokercykoe Posted November 3, 2008 Author Share Posted November 3, 2008 So I ended up doing a FW dip on my frags, but ended up just killing ton of pods. No signs of nudis, and I also inspected the frags for tell-tale signs of eggs, but could not find any either. *Fingers Crossed* All the zoas look fine so far. The joker palys are the best growers in the tank. Started with 2 heads, and now I can see 2 more heads growing. I took one of the stock sponges and cut a slice of it to fit in the right side wall. I have been running this way for more than a year. I rinse the sponge during water changes and whenever I clean the fuge section. I also change the sponge every so often. HTH Tank looks good so far, Sorry bout the nudis.... Thanks. That is what I've been doing lately also, (using the stock sponges in the return chamber). Sucks when I clean out the sponge though, because debris gets blown back into the tank. Heres a picture today of one of the macroalgaes on the rock. Its pretty, looks like a vine, and sending out shoots/roots into the sand/rock. I need more livestock! Link to comment
jokercykoe Posted November 4, 2008 Author Share Posted November 4, 2008 Picked up a few new frags. Let me know if you guys know the names of any of these... Edit: ^ ID'ed as "Gorilla Nipples" http://zoaid.com/index.php?module=Gallery2&g2_itemId=181 Zoa/paly side of tank and a little more zoomed in And some Joker Growth (New buds/polyps quick) skirts arent as green as I'd like, and the polyps are still kind of small. Bigger versions of the pictures can be seen on my Flickr site. Link to comment
Lalani Posted November 5, 2008 Share Posted November 5, 2008 Can I have like a frag of everything? Link to comment
jokercykoe Posted November 5, 2008 Author Share Posted November 5, 2008 Haha, maybe when things grow out. I'll be down for some trades Link to comment
jokercykoe Posted December 1, 2008 Author Share Posted December 1, 2008 Update shots: 10/30 12/01 That macro algae is becoming a nuisance! Started in that small frag of EagleEye zoas/Watermelons and at first I thought it looked pretty cool. Now its starting to choke out my zoas and its hard as hell to pick off the rock too! I wonder if theres anything out there that eats macro. Maybe an emerald crab or something? Growthwise the Joker palys are the fastest growing. The nuc greens are the slowest, no new polyps! Small frag of 2 polyps of jokers for trade if anyone has any cool paly/zoas. The polyps themselves are still small but frag grows at a great rate. Edit: Took a better look at the nuc greens and there IS a small baby polyp growing! higher res pics can be seen on my flickr. Thanks for looking. Link to comment
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